


Haunted

by bloodpopsicles



Category: Preacher (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, drunken conversations, gentle desert kissing, hints at love triangle, sad vampire with a lot of emotions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-21
Updated: 2016-06-21
Packaged: 2018-07-16 11:24:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7266160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodpopsicles/pseuds/bloodpopsicles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cassidy convinces Jesse to go out for a drive, get blasted in the desert, and talk about some heavy shit out under the stars. Add a run-in with Tulip, and some secret sharing that turns physical. (Takes place after the episode Monster Swamp)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Haunted

**Author's Note:**

> Follow up to my other Preacher one off Boring is the Worst. Thanks to all the wonderful comments and support on that fic, it inspired me to write this one!

“And crosses don’t work, I guess. I mean, obviously.”  
The past few days, ever since Cassidy had told Jesse what he really was, Jesse would stop mid-sentence, while seemingly preoccupied with his churchly duties, to ask questions.   
Cass chuckled and gestured to the dozens of crucifixes mounted on the walls.   
“Obviously.”  
Other queries included: “Coffins?” “Wait, you can’t die either, can a? That must be… Somethin’.” And “You didn’t need an invitation so I guess that one ain’t worth shit neither.”  
Cassidy answered all of Jesse’s inquiries best he could, but it wasn’t like being a vampire came with a bleedin’ handbook. Even after almost a century of creeping round the shadows, he wasn’t even in the neighborhood of knowing all the ins and outs.   
The sun was blinking out over the flatliner horizon, and Cass visibly relaxed as the sky darkened. After all, he felt most alive when night descended--in the dark nobody could see the bodies and bloodstains.  
Cassidy hopped up from the pew and stretched, groaning. Jesse cast a sidelong glance in Cassidy’s direction as the preacher hammered a nail into the wall. A coffee menu say ready for hanging at his feet. Emily’s idea, of course.   
“Say now, dearest, I got quite the little proposition for yeh,” Cass grinned as he strode towards Jesse, pocketing the aviators always shielding his eyes from sunrays.  
Jesse raised his eyebrows. “I won’t say yes unless you get down on one knee,” he answered dryly.  
Cassidy let out a surprised laugh and looked away, before stammering out an embarrassed “Perhaps, ah proposition weren’t the proper--ya catch my meanin’, ‘twasn’t--”  
Jesse cracked the smallest of smiles and stopped him, continuing his hammering.  
“Whatcha thinkin’, Cass.”  
Cassidy sighed with a lopsided grin. “You, me, a trip to the well, a tank a’ gas, and the open desert. Gettin’ right bashed and plastered under the great Texas stars. Watching hawks making lazy circles in the sky, mate!”  
“Thats Oklahoma. And a showtune. So I cain’t guarantee none of that,” Jesse answered.  
Cass rolled his eyes. “Right, well, regardless the state it’s a damn catchy musical number besides.”  
“And unlike you, pickling my liver may actually fuck me over in the long run,” Jesse added.  
“Aye alright, call me the bad influence,” Cass conceded. “But you could be the designated deadbeat, abstain and be boring. Just keep me company.”  
Jesse met his glance, and for a moment Cassidy got lost in the deep dark. He quickly shook it off and cleared his throat. “‘Sides, I’d rather not catch the attention of that Sheriff bloke.Seems a right bastard.”  
Jesse grimaced and nodded. “Well, you’re not wrong.” He sighed, and dropped the hammer to his side. The preacher cocked his head to the side and looked at Cass. “Alright, you convinced me.”  
Jesse's old pickup wasn't a smooth ride, jolting and jostling with every stray pothole along the dirt roads spiderwebbing across the Texas desert. The two pulled onto the main drag of Annvile, and parked in front of the liquor store burning a hot neon beacon in the indigo night.   
Cass yanked his chin up at Jesse. "Now learn a thing or two from the best, friendo."  
Jesse scoffed, and replied under his breath "I've stole more than a few bottles in my time, don't act like an authority."  
"Aye well regardless, keep the clerk busy and let Ol' Cass do the work."  
Except when they sauntered through the barred door and jingled the tinny entrance bell, the cashier was already occupied.   
Leaning over the counter, holster on her hip as she slipped a pack of slims in her back pocket, was Tulip.  
Cassidy's face went hot, recalling the incident at the whorehouse. This is the woman who beat him with a baton, shoved him through a window, cradled his head in her lap, and saw him sucking down some 0 negative in the span of an hour. And just when Cass thought he only had eyes for one person in this shithole, she had to come round and shove some glass in his neck.  
"Aww, Christ..." Jesse mumbled as he turned on his heel to duck behind and aisle.   
But Tulip had already seen them. "Well heeey, Jesse!" she drawled, a slow smile slithering across her lips as she turned and leaned against the counter. "Funny seein' you here, honey. I thought the man upstairs wasn't too keen on the liquid courage, know whatta mean?"  
Cassidy raised his eyebrows and glanced back at Jesse, who stopped dead in his tracks. Slowly, the preacher turned to face them.   
"He ain't big on specificity, so I think I'm in the clear," Jesse answered slowly. "'Sides, it's mostly for my friend here. Cassidy, this is Tu--"  
"Oh we've met," Tulip teased. She strode towards Cass and squared up against him, though she was half a foot shorter easy. He met her steely gaze and couldn't suppress a bashful smile.  
"You tricked me," she accused. "Actin' like you was dyin', putting on when you knew damn well you'd survive. You played me." After a moment, she cracked a smile. "But I ain't mad. You wasn't a bad kisser."  
Cassidy bit his lip and looked down at her. "Guilty as charged." With every bit'a willpower within him, he turned back to Jesse and didn't look back.   
"Well," Tulip exclaimed with a swinging inflection, "you boys have a fun night, doin' whatever it is you boys do." She winked and was gone.  
Cassidy turned to Jesse and put his hands up. "Right, before you use the voice of Almighty to make me shove my head up me own arsehole, in my defense--I was well blitzed, moments ago balls deep in a fine young prostitute, and bleeding right good when any kissing happened." Cass spoke faster and faster as his ears got hot and his gaze went anywhere but Jesse. "And I didn't know she was an old flame, just thought she was some crazed lass feelin' guilty enough to kiss this ugly mug. So can yeh really blame me Padre?" He attempted a weak laugh but it came out just as pathetic as he feared.   
Jesse waved a hand, disregarding Cassidy's attempts at explanation. "Don't worry about it," he said quietly. He was still looking at the door.   
They drove through the desert, silent save for the ghostly crackling of an old country tune on the radio. The headlights cut through the night like twin daggers slicing out into nowhere. They were alone.  
Cass kept shooting glances over to Jesse in the drivers seat. He couldn't keep his hands still. He hadn't anticipated this. Caught between two ex-lovers, enamored with each. Goddamn him for bein' such a hopeless romantic. And he knew Tulip was just using him to make Jesse jealous, and that Jesse saw him as a mate if he ever saw him at all. Cassidy sighed. It felt like a knife in the ribs--and rest assured, he was overly familiar with that feeling.  
"Whatcha thinkin' bout?" Jesse asked, jolting Cass out of his stupor.  
Cassidy cleared his throat and shook his head, shaking off the reverie. "Nothing of great importance."  
Jesse scoffed and lit up. "And here I thought you wanted to come out here and shoot the shit. You ain't holdin' up your enda the bargain friend."  
"Aye, my apologies, I'll let you pick the subject since you're feeling so loquacious all of a sudden."  
Sucking down his cigarette, Jesse asked "Ever been in love, Cass?"  
Cass choked on the Jim Beam he was wolfing down.  
"What, nobody ever asked you that before?" Jesse chuckled.  
Composing himself, Cass answered "Not in a long while yet."  
"So?"  
"So, what kinda love we talkin' here? There's a million kinds'a love, boyo. There's the love for the lass ye knew when you were nine and made daisy chains for each other, and then forgot her name. Love when a fella shags yeh right for the first time and yeh can't walk straight for three days after. Love for that stranger yeh saw on the street once, and never again, the one you still look for round every city street corner outta hope and hubris. And that isn't even half of 'em, Padre."  
Jesse nodded. "That's all well and good, but you know the type I mean. The kind where it burns ya, deep. Kind that leaves scars. Love that makes ya want the world to end so everything can go quiet 'cept for you and them. You found love like that?"  
Cass nodded, looking down at his lap. "Maybe," he answered quietly. "But, uh, considering my situation, I try to avoid that kinda love. Love like that is fine as it goes if ya got a good 70, 80 years in yeh, but not for me. Don't wanna live haunted."  
For what felt like forever, Jesse said nothing as Cass looked out the window at the white dash lines on the highway skip by like an SOS signal. He wanted to change the subject. Too close to saying something he would regret.  
Finally--"That's sad, Cass."  
Cassidy scoffed. "Yeah well nobody ever said immortality was all wine and roses."  
Jesse pulled off the highway onto a frontage road, then down a dirt path. He rolled to a stop next to a small rock formation. Together they let down the tailgate and sat, staring up at the sky that in its vastness threatened to swallow them whole. They drank.  
"One more question," Jesse asked, before adding "if you don't mind."  
"Oh no go ahead it's a nice change of pace. The lockjawed preacher is the talkative one for once," Cassidy answered with an edge to his voice as he took another swig.  
Jesse chuckled. "When you made mention of, uh, shagging, was it? Did you say you slept with men?"  
"Fuck..." Cass muttered under his breath before turning defensive. "Yes, I've fucked a number'a blokes in my day, and quite a few lasses. Let's just say I have an appreciation for all kinds, alright?" He knew his agitation betrayed his anxiousness, but he couldn't seem to relax. It was too close.  
"Hey hey now," Jesse assured, placing a hand on Cassidy's shoulder. "I ain't gonna give you shit, just curious. Don't worry."  
Cass sighed and shrugged away, muttering "Yeah, alright Padre..." But then he noticed Jesse didn't let go. In fact his hand was moving down Cassidy's back. Cass stopped, a chill going up his spine. and met Jesse's gaze. The preacher's dark eyes were steady and reassuring.   
"W-what are yeh doin', Padre?" Cass stammered out with effort.   
Jesse leaned forward until Cass could feel his warm breath. Whispering, Jesse answered "Just curious..."  
The preacher's lips met Cassidy's, who leaned in, kissing back. Jesse was warm, and his lips were soft, unlike the prickly stubble rubbing against Cass's cheek. They hesitantly opened their mouths and caressed one another, the sour-sweet of whiskey mingling on their tongues. Cass couldn't believe it, even as he pulled Jesse closer. Even as he closed the gaps between their bodies and he felt Jesse's torso press into his. He'd wanted this since that night at the bar, when he saw the man in black with sad eyes and bloody fists sporting a white collar. They'd had this date from the beginning.  
Eventually, Cass felt Jesse pulling back, and he reluctantly withdrew as well. Jesse sighed, and lit another cigarette. "Well," he said. "Tulip was right. You ain't a bad kisser."  
The preacher couldn't see it in the inky black of night, but Cassidy's face went red as he chuckled. "Full of surprises you are," he breathed, incredulous. After a moment, Cass added "But Jesse?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Promise me one thing."  
"What?"  
"Don't leave me haunted."


End file.
